Welcome to the bleak part of the late 90s pre-Ackles return. I got used to no one accepting my free extra ticket offer at NO cost for parking (I had that covered at work), beer (dont drink beer) or food as I don't visit concessions other than for a coke or popcorn and I can buy my own. My best buddies would sooner have scheduled a root canal than go to a free game with no expectation of them ponying up for any costs! And they know me... and did not feel obligated. They just didn't like the product or the atmosphere - although I still contend that those small crowds at times sounded huge when the Lions were coming back with a late Damon Allen drive. They lost the business community and didnt work the fan base right. Now Wally is killing the fan base one fan at a time.

I wouldn't say things are anything like the late '90s, Toppy Van. If they're not careful though, and continue to neglect their fan base with shoddy on-field play, they could lose a lot of fans. But they're still a long way from those dark days when their season ticket base was only about 6,000.

Unloading a Lions ticket is not difficult. There were over 25,000 fans at Empire last night and the atmosphere was great (in the first half anyway). Still, if the losses continue to mount, the offense is not entertaining, and fans don't see improvement, it's going to be a daunting challenge for the Lions sales staff for next year - new stadium and a Grey Cup host game or not.